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Moving out

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Armed with new owners and a growing business, Sonitrol Corp. is shedding the old and moving into new headquarters in Berwyn, Pa.
The move comes nearly a year after the security provider was sold to three private equity firms for $125.5 million after being under Tyco InternationalÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s umbrella since1996.Ã‚Â
Todd Leggett, senior vice president with the organization, said the change was brought on by a desire to consolidate corporate functions handled from multiple locations.
Ã¢â‚¬Å“The new owners looked at the functions and saw there was a lot of duplication,Ã¢â‚¬Â Leggett said.
For instance, both the Virginia and Dallas offices had an accounting division, which were streamlined into one.
Ã¢â‚¬ËœIt was a logistical move,Ã¢â‚¬Â Leggett said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“We tried to find efficiencies in places where we had existing infrastructure.Ã¢â‚¬Â
The Virginia-based accounting group has disbanded, according to Leggett. A few employees in other divisions have transferred, but the majority have not, either due to personal reasons or the fact that their position was eliminated. There were 20 people working in Alexandria, out of those 14 are now unemployed.
Ã¢â‚¬Å“ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s one of those hard developments,Ã¢â‚¬Â Leggett said, who transferred to the Pennsylvania office.
Even with the consolidation, Leggett said it is not a sign that the company or its business opportunities are downsizing.
Ã¢â‚¬Å“We are definitely not shrinking,Ã¢â‚¬Â he said. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Our franchise base is growing. The company is growing. A revitalization of Sonitrol has taken place.Ã¢â‚¬Â
For more on this story see the November issue of Security Systems News.